Roberta Vinci bows down to Kaia Kanepi in the semis – Estoril Open 2012
Estoril tournament’s top seed contestant, Roberta Vinci, was ousted by the sixth seed Estonian, Kaia Kanepi, to deprive the Italian of the final spot. It was straight sets 6-2, 7-5 triumph for the 26-year-old Estonian who had worked
extremely hard throughout the tournament and raised her game to the next level.
The first head-to-head win in three encounters for the Estonian took an hour and 23 minutes. She was extremely pleased to have finally got off the mark and registered new history against the Italian. She had to wait almost four
years, since her last clash with Vinci, to have her hands on the Italian.
A slow start to the opening set witnessed three back-to-back serve holds before the top seed contestant went down a break. Kanepi kept on exerting the pressure and stamped a lead of 5-2 in the meantime. She was just one game away
from registering a majestic set triumph against the in-form Italian. She did that in style; breaking her competitor’s serve by striking four eye-startling winners.
It never looked easy for the Italian who wasn’t able to explore her form at all. She never settled into the atmosphere and always looked hesitant with her shot selection. The lack of confidence limited her shot making that backfired
badly. However, a great start to the second set eased her nerves.
She went ahead to a lead of 4-1 that featured a couple of breakpoints. However, the Estonian sixth seed broke twice in the following three games to diminish the trail. She was still lagging behind to a trail of 3-5 but decreased
it to 4-5 with a serve hold.
In a ‘do or die’ game, the Estonian broke serve that brought the crowd to life. She won four out of five points in that game and also eased nerves with a tight serve hold. The pressure was back on the 23rd ranked Italian
who failed to save a breakpoint in the final game and lost the match.
Kanepi was ecstatic to win this big matchup. In a post-match interview, she stated, "In the second set I knew I just had to keep playing my game - I didn't think about the score, I just tried to play the game. I didn't go into
the match thinking I had never beaten her; I just tried to go in and play well and try to win. Every day's a new day, and every match is a new match."
She lock horns with Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain for the final showdown.
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